The 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome brought immense excitement across 6 days of competition, with record breaking performances and athletics stars shining on track and field.

At the end of the Championships, Italy came out on top of the medal standings accruing an incredible 24 medals in total, including 11 gold medals, making them the most successful nation ever at the European Athletics Championships. 

Record breaking performances

Across a highly competitive 6 days of action, athletes were tumbling new records. Championship records were set by both Norway’s Karsten Warholm and Femke Bol of the Netherlands as they retained their respective 400m Hurdles titles.  

In front of the home crowd, Gianmarco Tamberi retained his European High Jump title with a clearance of 2.31m before going on to set a championship record of 2.37m.  

Belgian superstar Nafissatou Thiam won her third successive European title with a championship record of 6848 points in the Heptathlon. 

Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis won his third European gold in the Pole Vault, setting a new championship record and narrowly missing out on a new world record. 

Historic medals

Norway’s 23-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen completed his third successive European 1500/5000m double, becoming the first man to win six individual golds at the European Championships. 

It was a historic occasion for Estonia, with Johannes Erm winning only the second gold medal ever for the nation at the European Athletics Championships by coming out on top in the Decathlon. Austria’s Victoria Hudson also became the nation’s first gold medallist since 1971 by winning the women’s Javelin. 

Meanwhile, Ireland had won only one gold medal in the 90-year history of the Championships, which came in 1998. However, gold went to Ireland in the mixed 4 x 400m, before Ciara Mageean clinched Ireland’s second gold in the women’s 1,500m final.  

Golden crowns

The newly launched Gold Crown contest proved to be a tremendous success, keeping fans and athletes involved right to the last event. There were 10 gold crowns on offer, along with €50,000, to the five women and five men who produced the best performances in their group of events.  

Exceptional interest

There was great interest in the European Athletics Championships, with numerous ways of following the coverage over the six days. As well as through local broadcasters in participating countries, fans could follow the action through various digital outlets supplied by European Athletics, including the live stream on the European Athletics website and extensive social media coverage. 

Long-term partnership 

As a principal sponsor since 1996, SPAR continues to support European Athletics, promoting healthy lifestyles from the grassroots upwards. SPAR had a strong brand presence with the SPAR athletes’ number bibs branding, dedicated signage in the stadium, and overall event branding providing great exposure for the SPAR brand across the entire six days of the competition. 

Additionally, DESPAR Italia provided dedicated support for the European Athletics Championships 2024. DESPAR Italia created multiple marketing activations in the lead up to the start of the Championships, including a dedicated campaign to celebrate the victory of the Retailer of the Year award, and a customer-facing national competition, where lucky winners from across Italy won an unforgettable experience at the Stadio Olumpico in Rome. Over the course of the 6 days of action, DESPAR Italia had former Olympic gymnast Federica Macrì on-site as a dedicated correspondent who covered the action on DESPAR’s website and social media, as well a comprehensive hospitality presence in the stadium.